


Rumor or not (the fish of a tale remix)

by Estirose



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 00:02:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20573120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: Razen catches a fish. Half of Pelican Town thinks it's bigger than it is.





	Rumor or not (the fish of a tale remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Serie11](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serie11/gifts).
  * Inspired by [rumour has it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17029914) by [Serie11](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serie11/pseuds/Serie11). 

It began with a fish, and only a fish. Razen saw a large one, tried to reel it in, but with no luck. Her fishing skill was just not that good. She remembered a net at her cabin, one of her grandfather's, and hauled herself back to the farm to fetch it. It was practically hidden behind the fireplace, but in decent shape and that's all that she can ask for. She grabbed a towel just in case and headed back to Cindersap Forest, trying to set up the net at one edge of the dock, and then fell in.

She thought she heard girlish laughter as she surfaced, but she was too busy fishing herself out of the water to do anything. At least her net was secure and maybe her falling in the water pushed the large fish towards her net. If it got caught, that's all that mattered. She let the net do its thing, toweling herself off and watching for movement. Abigail will like it, she thought, once Razen has a chance to cook it.

But the fish found its way out of her net, and Razen was forced to use her rod, in the end. She managed to hook it after a fierce battle, and took it home, sticking it in her fridge to cook the next day. She was way too tired to try that evening.

She headed to the mines the next morning, the whole event forgotten. She managed to get through a few more levels without getting wiped out; her new sword makes short work of grubs, flies, and slimes. Of course, she was there to get two things - some more copper for tool upgrades, and some amethyst for her beloved Abigail. Much to her annoyance, she came up with no amethyst, but at least she got some quartz - Abigail would at least like that.

Brushing dust out of her fine, curly hair, she headed back to the farm via the main square of Pelican Town. It was late enough that Robin was coming back from her Tuesday exercise class. "Hi, Razen! I hear you caught a big fish!"

"I did!" Razen smiled, and hoped the smile didn't look too strained. Sometimes living in a small town was interesting.

"I was just telling Lewis about it. He thinks it might have escaped from the Sewers." Robin looked thoughtful. "I wonder if that's it, or if something else is going on? Probably Demetrius will run some tests."

Robin looked so determined that Razen didn't want to stop her, but she'd try anyway. "It wasn't that big! I mean, it was big, but it wasn't big." 

She tried to phrase it more coherently, but Robin was laughing and Razen knew that it was hopeless to say anything. She just hoped that Lewis understood that it was just a big fish and not a giant mutated fish from the sewers. Well, Lewis was sensible enough, she thought.

After wandering about a bit trying to find Lewis - she swore that people changed their schedules just to confuse her - she managed to track down Lewis as he was leaving the library. She liked him; she hoped he would see beyond the exaggeration to what the whole thing was truly about.

"Ah, Razen. I was hoping to have a word with you. I've heard tales of a monster fish in the lake in Cindersap Forest." Lewis looked quite serious, to Razen's relief. 

"It was a big one - about this big." She held her hands a foot or so apart. "But I don't think it's any bigger than these fish get. Certainly not a monster fish."

Lewis sighed. "That's a relief," he said. "I was afraid that something had escaped from the sewers! Thank you for putting my mind at ease."

"You're welcome. I think Demetrius is going to do a study anyway, but I've been fishing in there for a while and there's nothing I find unusual. There's nothing to worry about." 

Lewis left, looking distinctly more cheerful, and Razen found herself grinning. She didn't want anyone to panic about monster fish in the forest lake when there were none, after all.

Rumors could get out of hand in a place like this, where it seemed like nobody had anything better to do.

Heading back home, she took the fish out and cooked it. She'd invited Abigail to dinner - she liked cooking and Abigail wasn't that much into it, so she tried to treat her girlfriend as much as possible.

"So, this is the monster?" Abigail asked. "Sebastian was saying something about a monster you'd fished out of the lake at Cindersap forest."

"A monster carp, maybe," Razen said, sighing. "I can't believe that rumor is still going around town - wonder who he heard it from?"

"Maru, who heard it from Penny, who heard it from Lewis, who heard it from Robin, who heard it from Marnie who heard it from Jas, I guess," Abigail told her. "So, no monsters to defeat there?"

"No, honey, completely and totally just the whole thing getting distorted." Razen shook her head. The giggle that she'd heard made sense - it had been Jas witnessing the whole fall. "I thought I'd stopped that from going around when I talked to Lewis, but I guess not. He must have told Penny before I caught up to him." Told Penny, who told Maru, who told Sebastian, who told Abigail. "We'll have to go into the mines to do that!"

"Aw." Abigail mock-pouted. "When's that?"

"Day after tomorrow? I have a rumor to put to rest. I'm going to go talk to Demetrius and Maru - they should be able to verify that there is absolutely nothing going on. I might go with them! I can show them what's going on, and maybe one of them knows how to use a net properly! Because apparently that's where that rumor started."

"I'll hold you to that." Leaning forward, Abigail kissed her. "Rumor or no rumor, that's the one place I know we both love to be."

"Agreed," Razen said, and kissed her back. There was almost too much to do the next day, but the day after that? It would be totally worth it.


End file.
